May 19, 2012

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Democratic State Senator Eileen Daily Announces Retirement

May 15, 2012 By

Democratic State Senator Eileen Daily of Westbrook

AREAWIDE–  Democratic State Senator Eileen Daily of Westbrook announced Tuesday that she will not seek a new term in the Nov. 6 election, throwing open the race in the 12-town district Daily has represented for ten terms.

Daily’s decision to retire, which comes after she had formed a 2012 candidate committee earlier this year, was confirmed only one week before the Democrats district nominating convention on Monday in Essex. A former first selectwoman of Westbrook, Daily has represented the large district since 1992, defeating a series of Republican challengers by wide margins in each legislative election.

The district currently includes the towns of Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Portland, Westbrook, and portions of Old Saybrook. During portions of Daily’s tenure, Durham, Killingworth and Marlborough were also in the district.

Lon Seidman, an Essex resident who serves as a Democratic State Central Committee representative for the 33rd  District, said more than one prospective candidate is likely at the nominating convention where he is expected to serve as convention chairman. “We want to make sure it’s a fair and open process,” he said. Seidman, who serves on the Essex Board of Education, said he would not be a candidate for the senate seat.

One likely candidate is 36th District State Representative Phil Miller of Essex. A former first selectman of Essex, Miller won the seat representing Chester, Deep River, Essex and Haddam, in a February 2011 special election. A longer serving legislator in the district is State Representative Linda Orange of Colchester, who has represented Colchester and abutting towns, including East Haddam, since 1997.

District Republicans have set up a likely Aug. 14 primary contest for the party nomination after Neil Nichols of Essex, the unsuccessful GOP challenger to Daily in 2010, edged 23-year-old newcomer Art Linares of Westbrook on a 24-22 delegate vote at the party nominating convention Monday.  Nichols Tuesday wished Daily well, recalling that he and Daily had each run positive campaigns in their 2010 contest that Daily won by 3,818 votes. “I respected her enough that I concentrated on the issues,” Nichols said.

There will also be a Green Party candidate on the Nov. 6 ballot. Melissa Schlag of Haddam, an opponent of the controversial but now cancelled Connecticut River land swap that Daily supported last year. Schlag has the Green Party ballot line and is currently collecting petition signatures in an effort to qualify for public financing for her third party campaign.

See related Press Release:  Sen. Daily to Retire from Legislature upon Completion of Current Term

 

Filed Under: Charles Stannard, Newsletter, Top Story

State Police Arrest Two Westbrook Men in December Killing of Alpacas at Ivoryton Farm

April 19, 2012 By

ESSEX— State police have arrested two Westbrook men in the December stabbing and killing of four alpacas at the Applesauce Acres Farm on Bushy Hill Road in the Ivoryton section.

Police said Kyle Rossetti, 21, of 114 Meetinghouse Road, and Shawn Malcarne, 23, of 216 East Pond Meadow Road, turned themselves in late Tuesday at the Troop F barracks in Westbrook after learning police held warrants for their arrest. Police had been investigating since the alpacas were discovered dead in a pasture area of the 99 Bushy Hill Road farm on the morning of December 23.

Rossetti was arrested and charged with third degree burglary, conspiracy to commit third degree burglary, fifth degree larceny, conspiracy to commit fifth degree larceny, animal cruelty, first degree criminal trespass, and first degree criminal mischief. Malcarne was arrested and charged with third degree burglary, conspiracy to commit third degree burglary, fifth degree larceny, conspiracy to commit fifth degree larceny, conspiracy to commit animal cruelty, and conspiracy to commit first degree criminal mischief.

Both men were held overnight at the Westbrook barracks, Rossetti on a $75,000 bond and Malcarne on a $50,000 bond. After they were presented at Middlesex Superior Court Wednesday, Judge Lisa Morgan released Malcarne on a written promise to appear at a May 18 court date. Rossetti was ordered held on a $75,000 bond for a May 8 appearance at Middlesex Superior Court.

Police said the incident remains under investigation by Essex Resident State Trooper Kerry Taylor, and Detective Scott Wisner and Sgt. Joseph Quilty of the Central District Major Crimes Unit, “with the possibility of more arrests.”

The Ivoryton farm is owned by George MacLaughlin and his daughter, Sara. The MacLaughlins, who at times have had more than a dozen alpacas at the farm, had offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible for killing the animals.

Filed Under: Charles Stannard, News

Singer-Songwriter Freedy Johnston to Present Jan 14 Show at Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center

December 30, 2011 By

Singer-songwriter Freedy Johnston will perform on Saturday Jan. 14 at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center

OLD SAYBROOK— Singer-songwriter Freedy Johnston will perform on Saturday Jan. 14 at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center. The solo acoustic show begins at 8 p.m. with tickets priced at $20.

A Kansas native, the 50-year-old Johnston alternates between an apartment in New York City and Madison Wisconsin, where his girlfriend owns a bar. Johnston described the Midwest-Big Apple split as “the best of both worlds.” Johnston attended the University of Kansas, participating on the local music scene, before moving to New York City in 1985.

By 1990, he had recorded and released his first CD,”Trouble Tree” on the New Jersey-based Bar None label. A second CD, “Can You Fly” in 1992, generated a strong positive response in Rolling Stone magazine and other music publications. This led to a major label deal with Elektra Records, and the release of “This Perfect World,” in 1994.”This Perfect World included one of Johnston’s most popular songs, the single “Bad Reputation” which reached Number 54 on the Billboard top-100 chart.

Three CDs followed on Elektra, “Never Home” in 1997, “Blue Days Black Nights” in 1999, and “Right Between The Promises” in 2001. His most recent CD is “Rain In The City,” released in January 2010 on the Bar None label.

In an interview via email, Johnston said he expects to play songs from all of his CDs at the Old Saybrook show, including a personal favorite, “The Farthest Lights” from the “Blue Days Black Nights” CD. Johnston said he will also be doing some cover songs, including numbers by two songwriters who have done shows at the Kate, Jimmy Webb and Marshall Crenshaw. The writer of many of Glen Campbell’s hits, Webb played a solo show at the Kate in October 2010.

Johnston said the January solo tour is a short one, including dates in Madison, Wisc., Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Johnston said he will have a new CD in 2012 titled “Neon Repairman”. He is also working on a side project, a band called the Hobart Brothers with guitarist Jon Dee Graham and Susan Cowsill, a member of the early-1970s family band.

Filed Under: Charles Stannard, Old Events, Old Saybrook

Essex Planning Commission Considers Resubdivision Plan for Toby Hill Road

October 25, 2011 By

ESSEX—The planning commission has begun its review of a proposed three-lot resubdivision of a 12-acre parcel off Toby Hill Road in the Ivoryton section.

Last winter, before a formal application was submitted for the proposed development, the potential need for improvements to the intersection of Toby Hill Road and Pond Meadow Road led the board of selectmen to consider the possible abandonment of the section of Toby Hill Road in Ivoryton.

Toby Hill Road is an old town roadway that extends from Pond Meadow Road north to cross the town line and intersect with McVeagh Road in Westbrook. While there has been residential development and road improvements on the Westbrook side, much of the road in Ivoryton is an unimproved gravel or dirt road.

The applicant, Paul Vumbaco of Meriden, owns a total of 34.7 acres on both sides of the Essex-Westbrook town line. Vumbaco has already received approval for a seven-lot subdivision of the 22 acres in Westbrook. He is now seeking approval for a three-lot resubdivision of the 12.38-acre parcel in Essex.

The lots in Westbrook are located on Joseph Circle, a new road extending off Toby Hill Road. The three lots in Essex would be located on an extension of Joseph Circle that would end in a cul-de-sac while also connecting to Toby Hill Road on the Essex side.

The section of Toby Hill Road in Ivoryton currently serves three homes, one in Essex and two located over the town line in Westbrook. The proposed development would also include a dedication of 6.38 acres as open space land. The resubdivision application also seeks a waiver of town regulations to allow one interior lot that would lack road frontage and be accessed from a driveway.

The planning commission opened a public hearing on the proposed three-lot resubdivision on Oct. 13. The commission discussed the need for improvements to the Essex section of Toby Hill Road and the intersection to Pond Meadow Road with representatives of Vumbaco, including an attorney and local engineer Robert Doane. According to minutes from the public hearing, Doane said the width of Toby Hill Road would be increased to 22-feet, and sight lines would be improved on the right side of the intersection to make a right turn.

The commission scheduled a Nov. 5 site walk of the property, with the public hearing continued to the Nov. 10 meeting. As the Westbrook subdivision was under review in that town last winter, the commission had urged the board of selectmen to abandon the 300-foot section of Toby Hill Road in Ivoryton to avoid the possible need for town-funded improvements to the intersection of Toby Hill Road and Pond Meadow Road. Town Planner John Guszkowski had described the intersection as difficult, with “a steep approach from Toby Hill Road, poor sight lines and unfavorable topography.”

After discussion at a meeting last March, the board of selectmen took no action on the planning commission recommendation to abandon the section of Toby Hill Road.

 

Filed Under: Charles Stannard, Town Hall